


In His Sleep

by Dareandwriteit



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, Magnus dies but he gets better, Spoilers for ep 61, Suicidal Thoughts, Team as Family, kind of?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-28
Updated: 2017-04-28
Packaged: 2018-10-25 00:44:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10753188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dareandwriteit/pseuds/Dareandwriteit
Summary: Magnus makes a stupid mistake on a poisonous planet. What does it matter when death is temporary?





	In His Sleep

**Author's Note:**

> The idea of Magnus dying from illness and the crew finding him the next morning really hit me hard.
> 
> Also Magnus deserves love and it kills me that he's basically an outsider in IPRE.
> 
> (If Lucretia wasn't supposed to be there consider this a bit of a divergence.)

Magnus didn’t tell them at first. It was a stupid mistake to make, and it wasn’t like death really meant anything anymore. It was inconvenient, at best.

He was used to dying. He’d done it a few times. Hell, the first time he’d thought it would be permanent, so the rest didn’t seem so bad in comparison.

The only person around when he first collapsed was Lup. He played it off as falling over some tree roots. She laughed her ass off at him eating shit so badly.

It was nice to make her laugh. She made him laugh a lot, and he often wished he could return the favour. 

Magnus was the odd duck of the IPRE crew. He knew it. All the others could do some magic and hung out all the time. Lup and Taako had each other, with Barry never far from the pair of them. Magnus had seen Barry blush and stammer around Lup, taking every opportunity to spend time with her. Magnus couldn’t image being so clearly in love, especially now his home was gone. He’d never been one for romance, but now… It’s one thing to not be interested in something, it’s another knowing it can _never_ happen.

Merle had gotten close with Cap’nport and Lucretia, the three of them having conversations Magnus couldn’t hope to follow. Things about maintaining cultural histories, and theological universalities, all of which were words Magnus used to think he understood. He’d tried to contribute, but always been met with insincere smiles and patronising nods.

It was lonely. And he pretended it wasn’t, rushing ahead so that nothing ever caught up. He started fights and he died in the heat of battle. Clean, bloody deaths. It was over quick and he was back quicker.

It got harder to hide the effects of the spores. He felt his skin… dying? It wasn’t the right word, he knew that, but it didn’t matter. He felt clammy and cold all the time. He stopped carrying two flamethrowers during the expedition, laughing about how it made to too tricky to take a piss. But even one was too heavy, and at the end of every day he crashed in his tent, struggling to breathe.

Everything was grey. His skin looked grey, the world looked grey. He felt like there was a constant fog inside his head, and nothing could get through. Not colour, not sound, not warmth. Getting up in the morning felt like an endless task.

He went through the motions. He laughed at jokes. He lead the patrol. He ate breakfast and dinner. He was dying. No-one noticed.

He collapsed again, this time over dinner. Lup had made some strange curry from what they’d found on the planet. Magnus was good with spicy food, but this time he felt his stomach recoil at the smell. He forced down a few mouthfuls, with an imitation of his usual cheeriness.

“Magnus? You okay?” Davenport had asked half-way through the meal. Magnus didn’t remember how he answered. He made a joke, and got out of seat, and then he woke up in his tent.

The entire party he’d brought with him, Lucretia, Davenport, Lup and Barry, were sitting by his bedside. They had one of the villagers with them, who was talking animatedly about the treatment for spore poisoning.

Magnus groaned. It was only partially from the pain.

Lucretia immediately threw her arms around him. “You should have told us.”

Davenport nodded in agreement, but kept his focus on the villager. 

“It’s nothing really.” Magnus said, sitting up in bed so Lucretia would let go.

“Let me guess, it was those fuckin’ hard candies.” Lup said, sarcastically. “I told you they were garbage food for garbage people.”

Magnus shrugged, embarrassed. He didn’t know why he’d done it. It was stupid. 

“You’ll still get to the Light of Creation. It’s fine.” Magnus said.

“There’s no cure. We’ve been talking with their healers, and we haven’t-” Barry said solemnly.

“I’ll see you back on the ship. It’s not like it matters.” Magnus interrupted, with some determination.

“Mags, you’re _dying_.” Lup said, with a break in her voice Magnus hadn’t expected. “Of course it matters.”

“Won’t be the last time.” Magnus said.

And that was the end of it. Magnus improved a little, with the help of villagers. He was still weak, but his colour improved. He became chattier, and seemed genuine in his enthusiasm when he talked to them. There was some unspoken hope that he’d make it.

Lucretia was the one that found him. She came out of his tent, with a hollow look on her face that required no explanation. The crew were ushered in, and they stood together over his body.

Magnus had died bloody before, in pieces even. They had seen him injured as a fact of their existence, welcoming every new reality with a black eye. Dying peacefully was so much harder. 

He looked happy, in a way. If it weren’t for how cold his skin was, it looked like he could get up and live a full life. Magnus always carried a strange weight around with him, one he never talked about. It wasn’t there now. Being dead was something Magnus was very good at.

They all cried. Not right away, but they did. They’d never had time to before. The Hunger wasn’t going to arrive for a few weeks yet. They buried Magnus, determined that the Hunger wouldn’t get his body. They gave eulogies, and picked flowers, and they missed him.

Barry and Lup held each other. Lucretia and Davenport talked a lot. Taako tried to comfort Lup from the other side of the planet. Merle held a service in Magnus’ memory.

* * *

When Magnus rematerialised on the ship, he immediately had most of the crew on top of him. 

“Don’t do that again Maggie,” Merle said, from within the dogpile.

“I don’t-” Magnus began, but everyone spoke over him.

“Do that again and I’ll kill you my dude.” Taako said, muffled from his face being pressed into Magnus’ shoulder.

“You’ll kill me for dying?” Magnus said, with half a laugh. But the group held him tighter, and the laugh faded from his throat.

“Doesn’t matter if you come back. We don’t want to lose your dumb ass.” Lup muttered from her place in the hug.

Lucretia and Barry nodded in agreement, silent. The ship was silent for a while after that, the group just holding on while they could.

Magnus wasn’t so lonely after that.


End file.
